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<title>Day 14 - Thorns by GemmaRose</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27030487">Day 14 - Thorns</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose'>GemmaRose</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>OC-tober [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Accidents, Gen, Plants, Slice of Life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:28:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27030487</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Not every battalion gets to be on the front lines.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>OC-tober [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958275</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Day 14 - Thorns</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sometimes, Ky Mundi envied the Generals on the more active battlefields. It wasn’t a particularly Jedi-like emotion, but that didn’t stop her from feeling it. It wasn’t that she envied their loss of life, or the pains they suffered, but... her battalion never saw any real action, and only rarely participated in relief missions. The most interesting thing which had happened to them in the past three months was coming across a holdout base of B-series battle droids, and that had been more an exercise in target practice for her men than anything else.</p><p>“It doesn’t seem fair.” she huffed, kicking a rock along the embankment she was patrolling with her Commander and his favoured men.</p><p>“What, that we get all the boring cleanup?” Vinny asked, tucking the arm not holding his bucket behind his head. “Better a bored soldier than a dead soldier.”</p><p>“No.” she shook her head, then groaned. “Well, yes, sort of. It’s just, from what the other Knights say, our assignments would be considered a vacation by most battalions. It hardly seems fair that we’re on these assignments constantly, and your brothers are just as constantly on the front lines in the thick of the action.”</p><p>“You’d put us, and yourself, on the front lines just to give my brothers a break?” Vinny asked skeptically.</p><p>“I mean, would any of you complain?” Ky turned around and walks backwards, facing the handful of armoured soldiers trailing behind her and Vinny. “You were raised to fight, and haven’t gotten to do hardly any of that.”</p><p>“She had a point, Commander.” Hardball said. “I know I can speak for the lot of us when I say we’re bored stiff.”</p><p>“See?” she grinned at Vinny, who gave her a cross look. Only for a moment though, and then he was lunging, the ground under her foot slipping as packed dirt transitioned to much looser dirt. She barely had time to cry out before Vinny’s hand was around her wrist, her Commander throwing her back towards the rest of the squad with his own bodyweight as a counter. She sat up with a hiss, crading the abraded tendrils which hung from her scalp as she looked at the spot where Vinny had fallen.</p><p>“Kriff.” Diver said, helping her to her feet.</p><p>“My thoughts exactly.” she muttered, moving forward with caution and peering over the new ledge. It looked like a river had cut under this part of the embankment at some point, and the weight of a human- or, technically a tholothian, as it had started to collapse when she set foot on it- had been all it took to bring it down. Luckily, the drop wasn’t far at all, perhaps twice a clone’s height, and Vinny was right there at the bottom. Ensnared quite thoroughly in the single biggest briar patch she had ever seen.</p><p>“You okay down there?” she called, and Vinny screwed up his face.</p><p>“Been better.”</p><p>“Want some help getting out?” she offered, already stretching out her hand and reaching for the Force.</p><p>“No.” Vinny scowled up at her. “It’s a <i>plant</i>, I can get free of it on my own.” he tried to stand made it roughly halfway, and fell right back down with a loud thud and louder curse.</p><p>“You sure?” she giggled, feeling the amusement rippling off the troopers behind her.</p><p>“Yes, I’m sure!” Vinny thrashed against the touch, prickly plants, and made precisely zero progress. In fact, Ky thought he was getting himself even more stuck.</p><p>“Suit yourself.” she grinned, sitting down with her feet hanging over the edge of the little cliff. “You men finish the patrol, the Commander and I will catch up once he’s gotten himself out of this... thorny situation.”</p><p>“I heard that!” Vinny shouted, and Diver burst into giggles, which tripped the whole squad into laughing. Ky tossed her head back and joined in, using the Force to lift Vinny’s bucket out of the thicket and drop it in his hands.</p><p>“Go. If he’s not out in five I’ll pull him out myself.” she assured the laughing troopers behind her.</p><p>“Thank you, Sir.” Hardball grinned, and snapped a sharp salute, despite the way his shoulders still shook with badly suppressed laughter. Perhaps it wasn’t such a bad thing, if their most memorable moments of the war were times like this.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Apologies to any not-logged-in readers, but due to an ex who refuses to leave me alone I have had to disable anon comments. Kudos are still open though, and if you want to scream (or would like me to write a fic for you) come check me out on Pillowfort! No account required to get my discord, and I'm always happy to chat. [<a href="https://www.pillowfort.social/GemmaRose">Link</a>]</p></blockquote></div></div>
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